Racks of Drying Flowers
by JDCorley
Summary: A prisoner confesses...the affair of a Virtuous Sword Princess and an opium dealer...the Yellow Sash Gang and the treacheries of destiny...
1. Freshly Cut From The Stem

"Of course I can't say for certain what the last official who was here has told you about our conversation, except, naturally, that he was not fully satisfied by what I told him. If he had been, you would not have come to my cell, would you? It is simple logic. I take full responsibility for this shortcoming. I did not perhaps answer his questions as fully as he would have wished. I will remedy that fault completely, I can assure you. I have an abhorrence for pain and am not eager to be given over for more torturous examinations. You may have also been told that I am a confidence trickster, a notorious charlatan, a reknowned swindler and brazen liar. I can only hope that you remember what it was like when you yourself were a victim of unfounded rumor, and..."

The Prefect interrupted. "How did you know about that?"

The prisoner lifted his chin, curiously. "How did I know about what?"

She replied. "That I had been a victim of unfounded rumor."

He nodded, understanding entering his tone, even warmth. "Ah. I knew that because you are not a child. Anyone who is on this earth long enough has been a victim of unfounded rumor. An Imperial official does not reach your exalted position without arousing the jealousy of inferior persons."

"But you did not come here to learn about the power of rumor and lies, for those are surely familiar to you already. You came to hear how a pornographer, drug dealer, and lowlife such as I came to know and love a Virtuous Sword Princess, and why in the end he betrayed her love, and left her behind."

The Prefect interrupted fluidly this time. "And where she is now. Perhaps we can start there."

He sat back on the threadbare cushion on the stone floor. The afternoon sun fell in through the skylight above them like a golden sheet through the dust. "I am only a poor criminal, and not trained in the arts of detection and investigation, as you are. Perhaps in my telling of the story you will be able to deduce her whereabouts, even if I cannot. Shall we begin?"

**RACKS OF DRYING FLOWERS LATER TO BE MADE INTO GRACEFUL ARRANGEMENTS**

A Story Of The Jade Empire

I. Freshly Cut From The Stem

The prisoner began his tale. "When Melodious Ivory was born, to her noble family in the Imperial City, it is said there was a comet in the sky whose fiery tail traced a wild streak across the heavens, between the constellations of the Hunter to the Diamonds Of The Empress. Her father was a devout and learned man, and named her for a brave ancestor. He believed as a result of the comet in the sky that she was destined for great things, and so she studied under the strictest tutors and fiercest warriors."

"Her family, the great House Chu, had been given its noble name two generations ago during the great drought, when the inventiveness of an ancestor had created an aqueduct which brought water from the high mountains where it was frozen in ice for many years before the snows stopped falling, to several parched valleys. In the intervening years, her family had continued to serve the emperor and these valleys in many ways, and had gained as reward for their service both the power of ruling these valley kingdoms, and the loyalty and favor of their subjects. Thus Melodious Ivory was loved not simply by her family, but by their subjects, and for her beauty, talent and drive, which only seemed to blossom as she grew."

"On Melodious Ivory's fourteenth birthday, in accordance with a prophecy, she woke at midnight and descended the stairs silently. She took her clothing, and two short daggers, and rode on her family's fastest horse to the cave of Oni-Gam, the bound demon prince of the Hell of A Thousand Frozen Lashes. In this cave, a dozen heroes had attempted to defeat the demon prince and recover the mystic blade Golden Blossom, which Oni-Gam had stolen from heaven when he was expelled for his insane ambitions a thousand years previous. Her blood sang with the daring of the truly fearless. Her body taut with youthful energy and the training of the best masters of the Valleys, she entered the cave without hesitation. Why should she hesitate? The omens were clear - she was destined to wield Golden Blossom, and defeat a demonic emissary with it. She was not destined to die in battle with this creature, no matter how powerful he might be. From within the darkness, for seven days and seven nights there there were shrieks of pain and bellows of groaning effort. The earth shook, the heavens clouded, and the moon turned red on the last night. Her father's soldiers surrounded the cave but dared not enter. Finally, bloodied, bruised, with bones broken and clothes shredded, the young princess emerged, Golden Blossom in her hand. Where she stepped, it is said, peonies bloomed."

The Prefect replied skeptically, "I have been to this cave. There is neither demon nor peony field there."

The prisoner shrugged as if this was no consequence. "I was born on the same evening as she - I learned much later in life - but I had no estate and my father was far from noble. I was born in a cave, a grotto near the sea, amongst crates of stolen silver and jewels. My father was a bandit and my mother was a girl he had kidnapped and raped often. I am sorry to say that he did not let her go when she gave him a son, nor did he value her more highly for having brought me into this world. Although it is true that he treated me quite well, in his way. He beat me only occasionally, and he allowed me to be very cruel to the other men in the bandit band, at first with the careless viciousness of a child and then with the calculated malice of a youth who had rarely known love. My mother caught an awful disease in one swamp or another and wasted away before I had seen five summers."

"My father had a price on his head, a bounty of some five hundred silver for offenses he had committed against the Emperor in more than one province. Bounty hunters constantly sought him, and his band of pirates and bandits. He survived through cowardice. Until one day he was caught by the bounty hunter Lei Gong, a name I see from your reaction that you know, perhaps personally, Prefect?"

The Prefect swallowed. "My personal affairs are none of your concern, prisoner. Continue your confession."

The prisoner seemed reluctant to leave the subject, but did so. "He was caught by Lei Gong, who was at that time a functionary of the Yellow Sash Gang. This organized crime family has existed for many hundreds of years, and was known as a rival of the Guild. Many wise and powerful Emperors have attempted to destroy the Yellow Sash, but all have failed, for the Yellow Sash Gang, an esteemed group of honorable..."

The Prefect was disgusted. "Pah! You attempt to justify the thuggery of your fellow serpents?"

The prisoner spread his hands, palms up. "Is it not written that to every thing heaven has assigned a place, and that it is sinful to upset the order of heaven? I was born a criminal child, as surely as if I had chains placed upon my wrists the moment I escaped from my mother's womb. I was born to a criminal, raised a criminal, is it not preferable that I should be a criminal honorably and well, among those men and women who approach their criminal trade with generosity and a full appreciation of civic duties? What other place has heaven assigned me?"

The Prefect snarled, "They corrupt officials and spread lies and deception wherever they go. You are a taint upon the heavenly order, not a part of it."

The prisoner folded his hands in his lap again. "You are so certain of heaven's will? You must be very wise indeed."

"Cease your sneering, dog!" snapped the interrogator. "Return to your story without this editorializing. Why was the Yellow Sash Gang seeking your father? For the bounty?"

The prisoner resumed: "Not entirely. My father had robbed and stolen from their operatives as casually and brutally as he stole from innocent merchants and helpless rustics, and they demanded payment for their loss. Payment with fair interest, of course. For payment my father offered me. So I came to live with the Yellow Sash Gang at the age of seven, and was apprenticed to Bargainer Cho, an upright gentleman well known for..."

"Burglary, assassination, and extortion." spat the Prefect.

"...I was going to say his wit and charm, delicate tastes in poetry and patronage of the theatrical arts, but I would not dare contradict you, honored inquisitor. I became known as Little Bargainer, and...no! Truly, you have heard this name? What a charming development! I thought that none could ever remember the tiny yellow-clad apprentice tagging at the great master Bargainer's heels! What a sight I must have been."

"You were an excellent pickpocket at a young age, a prodigy, I have learned." intoned the Prefect, relaxing on her stool. "I managed to speak with the magistrate of your province about you. He was very aged but remembered you clearly. He called you a blight."

"The magistrate. He was a great man." replied the prisoner, eyes moist with the reminiscing of it. "He once sentenced me to sweep the beach with a wooden broom for ten hours a day for seven days. But now I have inexcusably strayed again from my story. I beg your pardon and return."

"Bargainer Cho, who I never called 'father', taught me many arts, and schooled me in philosophy and in the Yellow Sash Method of fighting, which as you I am sure know involves the yellow sash all full members of the Gang wear. Some sew a heavy club in one end - others line the edge with razor wire - it is said the greatest masters of the Method can decapitate a man at fifteen feet with only the cloth itself, so quick and sure does the spinning, distracting cloth snap outwards from their hands and feet."

The prisoner let a pause fall into the afternoon air, before continuing. "You do not comment, honored Prefect? You do not think this is fanciful? I have never seen such a feat myself. ...I continue, then. I learned this Method, I learned to count silver from the sound it makes in a coin purse, I learned to tell an ounce of opium from two ounces at ten paces, and to read and write. He showed me love, Bargainer Cho, in his honorable and affectionate dealings with his wife. In some ways he was my true father - the father whose blood is in my veins gave me only flesh, but Master Cho gave me what it was to be a man. I have seen men who never recovered from damage done to them as children, but my adopted father healed me well. Whatever scars I have, whatever pain I still bear from my father, I have made my peace with."

"Besides, my father was given up to the authorities for the bounty despite selling me. and he was executed at the public square, by being pierced with spears."

The Prefect swallowed hard, and said nothing. The prisoner saw her discomfiture, and he paused long enough to let her know that he had seen it. But he made no comment, and continued. "I was fourteen when Bargainer Cho inducted me as a full member of the Yellow Sash Gang and for some time I had unpleasant work as a soldier in the ranks. But I always had an eye out for businesslike opportunities, for it was there that my true talents lay."

"I started, you see, with one woman, a cart, soft hay, and linen. I was sixteen. That was all I had. She and I had split the costs of purchasing the rights to an alleyway in the poor district. I stole many items in order to improve our lot. I often wonder what became of her. As I rose in prominence, I lost track of her. We parted ways in good faith. By the time I met Melodious Ivory, I had come a long way from stealing to buy fresh hay and linens to cover it, and washing the sheets every morning in the creek. And my good fortune was all due to opium."


	2. The Well Crafted Frame Of Wood

II. The Well-Crafted Frame Of Wood

The Prefect was taken aback by the admission. "You say it so brazenly?"

The prisoner again regarded her with his mild gaze, brown eyes inscrutable, almost innocent. "Why not? Every Emperor since the first, the wisest of all, has tried to eliminate the opium trade, so I cannot quarrel with such a policy. But today the price of opium is much the same as it was in the days of Sagacious Tien so many thousands of years ago. Only the face on the silver coin used to pay for the opium changes, the opium itself, those that smoke it, and those that sell it, are eternal as the seasons."

"Do you know how opium is prepared, honored Prefect? There are great purple fields high in the mountains, where the air is thin but the warmth of the earth is trapped in valleys, and the poppies grow thick and wild. The harvesters work with thick gloves on their hands, they slit the bulbs of the flowers with tiny knives the size and shape of fishhooks, and the sap is collected, pressed beneath stones and between paper, and dried into flakes. These are then smoked in water pipes."

"When heaven itself gives us such a gift, hidden in the bulbs of papery flowers for us to unwrap, as children might unwrap a present they are eager for, how can any Emperor, no matter how great or terrible, take it away? They can certainly try, and worry that people will do very wicked things when they use opium, but I have observed many of those that did and do partake of the subtance, and my view is different. Experience changes our view of matters, do you not agree? Does not the town gate guard who has never seen more than a drunken brawl view the prospect of war differently than a mercenary veteran of a hundred battles? So it is with my humble self and the observation of opium users."

"Those that smoked opium in the Little Star, which is what I named my teahouse, were not particularly wicked – they were simply lazy, or willing to be lazy for a time. They enjoyed being on the cushions, receiving a massage from one of my twelve ladies, enjoying the tart taste of a sliced piece of fruit from a copper bowl. Many said that their sexual congress was much enhanced by the delicious smoke, that the sensations were..."

The Prefect was blushing, sputtering before she could gather up a full interruption. "Is there no end to your perversion?"

The prisoner bowed his head. "I merely state these facts in order to give you a complete picture, Prefect. I do not wish you to imagine that I lived a life made of victimizing others, robbing them, crushing the innocent, or working the women like beasts in the field. I attempted to be an honest and honorable businessman. My most important merchandise was opium, and a pleasurable place to smoke it."

"It was a beautiful night when I first laid eyes on Melodious Ivory. Autumn, it was, and the leaves were falling."

"I owned - I still own - as I have said, a beautiful teahouse called the Little Star. We sold the very finest tea, drink and food in abundance, opium, baths of steam and perfumed water, and the services of courtesans. My business was prospering, and I had twelve women and three guards working for me. I had silver in abundance, I enjoyed my wealth, but also spent it freely. For example, I hired tutors for the women to train them in the many arts – painting, poetry, music, song, rhetoric, classical literature, dance, and the Blushing Courtesan style of martial arts, with its spinning, obfuscating steel war fan. Of course I also paid well for their training in the long-banned 64 Arts Of Pleasure, to refine their sexual skills to the highest degree. These expenses I considered to be investments in the future prosperity of..."

The Prefect blinked, interrupted. "The long-banned what?"

"Why, the 64 Arts of Pleasure." said the prisoner.

The Prefect scoffed. "Those are fictions."

"I assure you they are not, honored Prefect." the prisoner protested. "Many are very difficult, I am told, but..."

The Prefect lifted her finely manicured hand. "It is a tale told by sniggering schoolboys. That there was a scroll somewhere that told of 64 methods of attaining increasing sexual bliss, and a highly religious Emperor ordered its suppression lest the methods corrupt and seduce his virtuous subjects? Completely false. No such order was ever issued by any Emperor, devout or no. No such scroll ever existed. Merely the lascivious imaginations of pornographers and their gullible customers."

The prisoner seemed fascinated by this development, and leaned forward. "What a marvelous dilemma, one any philosopher would be pleased to discuss. I can assure you that we did have a scroll, and it was inscribed with 64 different sexual arts, and that my maidens were trained thoroughly in those arts and we received no complaints of fraud or artifice from our clients. Indeed, rumors spread far beyond our tiny province. Rumors of the unbearable ecstasies to which our courtesans could bring to even the very aged, or very inexperienced - or even to women. I saw no reason that a woman's silver should not purchase her the same..."

The Prefect almost raved, her breath was coming short, her chest heaved as she gulped for breath. "Disgusting! Do not... Trouble me no more with your debauchery. No more! Return to your tale."

The prisoner's voice turned mischevious. "Of course, exalted one. Where was I? Oh yes. The great dilemma you have posed. If a false scroll purporting to be the original 64 Arts Of Pleasure were prepared by a swindler or charlatan, yet I, in my ignorance and gullibility purchased it, and encouraged the women in my employ to practice and refine their knowledge of these arts, and their reputation justly grew as a result, was I really duped? Was I deceived by this charlatan? Or perhaps is that the true nature of the Arts of Pleasure - that anyone can find them, if they but believe enough? I wonder what that might mean for you, who dismisses even their potential existence as nonsense..."

The Prefect was outraged. "Fool! Do not attempt to distract me with your unforgivable insolence!"

The prisoner mockingly groveled. "My apologies, great one. Your intellect surpasses mine in so many ways, what are to you impertinent, simple questions are to my poor mind of great interest." Still, he resumed sitting upright on his cushion and continued in a more serious tone. "To return to the story. The day when I first saw Melodious Ivory. I had silver in abundance, the cobbles in my courtyard were straight and the stone floors swept. I enjoyed having silk vests and the best wine. Other teahouse owners were changing to taverns, selling wine and liquor across a counter like shopkeeps, and only to the lowest of men, drunkards and sailors and all manner of disgusting persons. Although I would open our doors to anyone, they would be expected to behave as upright gentlemen or ladies while within my walls."

"Twelve women... I can call them to my minds eye as clearly as I can see you now, I can list their names, I can tell you their particular talents and favored clients. This is how devoted and attached to them I was. They called me Master Shi, as if I were a lord in a fortress. On some days I felt like just such a lord."

"That particular autumn afternoon, though, I was concerned chiefly with the acquisition of some premium wine. I had ordinary wine, the sort that was suitable for the average visitor, but I hoped to attract more prestigious and exalted clients, and I was willing to pay a dear price for several jars of the finest wine from the vineyards high on the mountainside. These rare fermentations, if you have never had the pleasure of tasting them, had the robustness of the plum blossom with a smooth tanginess that leaves the palate alive and tingling."

"So when I rose late that morning, I had business. I put on my robes, and summoned one of my guards, whose name was Kenji Chang and one of my women, named Graceful Butterfly to escort me to the marketplace. A wise businessman knows the value of presenting an alluring image, and as I am personally very plain..."

The Prefect scoffed at this statement. "Ha!"

"...you are too kind. At any rate, I always went about with a bodyguard and a courtesan. Thus I could display my prosperity and entice those who might be unsure about going to a place that seemed desperate. For why would I blackmail or extort monies from customers if I were so prosperous as to walk about the town with a veiled, beauteous woman and a stout bodyguard? Graceful Butterfly was a simple country girl who was born with untapped talent for watercolor, the dagger, mixing spices, and fellatio."

The Prefect was shocked. "What?"

The prisoner was the very picture of innocence. "Watercolor, the dagger, and mixing spices, as I say. She was a very talented girl. May I..." He looked expectant.

The Prefect, unsure of what she had heard, but suspicious, nevertheless did not protest further. "Continue."

"...yes. I shall." replied the prisoner. "I passed into the market square and stepped up into the shop of Fan Gong Li. He had the wine waiting, and I came to him in expectation of a fair price. We were in the process of agreeing upon that price when Lieutenant Ha of the town guard entered the shop. You must understand that Lieutenant Ha and myself did not see eye to eye on the matters of opium, courtesans and the Yellow Sash Gang. His views were closer to yours."

"I can call Lieutenant Ha to my mind's eye now. Tall, very tall, taller than you or I, slender, with hard muscles and few scars visible. He wore the half-cuirass armor of an Imperial Guard and wore his hair in a very old-fashioned high topknot. Children made fun of him for it but I found it very striking. He and two of his guards entered the store. They were carrying spears, the iron tips dull grey in the light from the window."

"'Well, well.' he said. 'If it isn't the city's most reknowned scum. Shi Jiexie. I hope you aren't so obvious as to purchase your opium through this fool.'"

"'I am shocked,' I said, 'to hear one of the Governor's top men speak this way of an honest merchant.'"

"'Honest! You do not know the meaning of the word.' insisted the Lieutenant."

"My voice was offended: 'I meant my dear associate Fan Gong Li, who I was about to conclude some business with, as you can see.'"

"The Lieutenant suspected that he had gone too far, and gave a curt bow to Fan Gong Li by way of apology, although I confess Fan did not appear to notice it. He was hiding under the counter. Lieutenant Ha said 'I have received word that a wanted fugitive is here in the city. She is a murderer and thief, carrying a golden sword. Have you seen her?'"

"'I have not.' I replied. 'A golden sword, what a childish notion. It would bend upon the first striking.'"

"Ha ignored my comment, and said, 'She is young, and favored with beauty, so she may attempt to hide among courtesans, and as you are the chief whoremaster in these parts...' At that moment I heard Graceful Butterfly's fan snap open, the metal slats clanking into place one after another, heard her body shift within her robes, her face hardening, this expression of anger visible in the eyes above her veil. It was a dangerous situation. The guards sensed it, their spears dropped slightly towards her. She lifted her war fan. The Lieutenant looked shocked, surprised, baffled that she would risk prison for assaulting the guards..."

"I spoke, 'Lieutenant, you have called me a whoremaster, and thus you have called Graceful Butterfly a whore, a most pernicious lie. A whore is a woman who sells herself as a beast might be sold - for the flesh only, to be worked until they are good only for the slaughter. You surely will not say that Graceful Butterfly is like this. When you do not even know her, have never seen any of the sublime portraits or landscapes she has painted. Have you seen any of these?'"

"'No.' he replied, not taking his eyes off the glittering, razor edge of her war fan. A yellow sash was painted across the slats, it tilted and swayed as her wrist turned it this way and that. My bodyguard had his hand on his wakizashi, coiled like a viper ready to strike."

"'Then to be fair, as you admit you do not know the full extent of her talents or education, you cannot say that she is a whore, and thus you cannot say that I am a whoremaster. You must see the logic of this position.' I said. 'Perhaps you spoke in haste, no doubt you are agitated by the news of this dangerous fugitive. There is no need for more aggressive measures in settling this unfortunate dispute, is there? Come, Lieutenant, I invite you to sample some of the wine Fan Gong Li has just sold to me. Withdraw your remark and assist me with deciding what to serve with this excellent wine. I trust your expert advice. Here, try some, and give me your best counsel.' Of course I was trying to calm the situation. I did not wish to do battle with Lieutenant Ha at that time and in that way, although the circumstances were very advantageous for me - my Graceful Butterfly was armed, as was I, and the guards' spears were worse than no weapons at all in the tightly enclosed spaces of Fan Gong Li's shop. No, it was not out of concern for the outcome that I did not wish to fight Lieutenant Ha - it would simply have been disrespectful to my valued associate Fan to do battle in his shop."

"'I apologize to you, madam.' Lieutenant Ha said, pretending to ignore my protestations. 'I should not have painted with so broad a brush, when my insults were intended only for this man, and his illegal practices. I spoke hastily.' With that same sudden snapping clank, her war fan was folded and tucked away in her sleeves. She bowed deeply and did not raise her eyes back to him. The apology had been accepted. She had never spoken a word."

"Nevertheless Lieutenant Ha did not appreciate my diplomatic efforts, for instead of partaking of the offered wine, he poked his finger at my chest in an unpleasant manner and said, 'I have my eye on you, Shi. Don't expect any leniency just because you happen to know influential persons in this province. If you are caught with this fugitive, everything is on the table. The opium. The courtesans. The thievery, and yes, your associations with the Yellow Sash Gang. That's how high this goes, that's how serious these orders are. Do you understand me?'"

"'Perfectly.' I said, injured by his tone. At that point he departed. I knew that I had to find out more about this fugitive, if nothing more than to protect myself and my investments. I gave a silver piece to a boy with a cart to carry the jars of wine to the Little Star and proceeded with my bodyguard and courtesan to the home of Master Ko-Gun. This as you no doubt know, was the head of the local Yellow Sash Gang. He has since passed onto the Wheel of Life. I looked up to him a great deal, ever since I was a boy. He was like a favored uncle."

"With great pleasure and surprise, I saw the Zu Mir Brothers sitting in the front parlor. I greeted them enthusiastically. 'Brothers!' I cried, and bowed deeply. They leaped to their feet to bow back. 'What a marvelous development. The Zu Mir Brothers here. I heard you had been in the high north plains.'"

"'Your information is impeccable as always, Shi Jixie.' replied Zu Mir Ma. 'How is it that you hear everything that is worth hearing, without ever leaving this little province?'"

"'By always inviting travelers for wine and food. And so I shall invite the two of you. Tonight. We shall have a great feast for the poetic and brave Zu Mir brothers, you shall be entertained by the songs and poetry of the women of the Little Star, and perhaps tomorrow you can give them your criticisms and train them further in the gentle arts."

"'The last who heard our poetry would not describe it as so gentle.' said Zu Mir Sa, and we all laughed. For you see, the Zu Mir brothers were practicioners of a lost form of kung fu called the Gentle Syllable Style. It could only be performed by two persons who had been trained not only in fighting with the curve-bladed sword of the north provinces but also in the sylized, rhythmic poetry of the barbarian tribes of that country. The songs they exchanged during battle allowed them to focus their chi into perfectly synchronized strikes, letting them fight as one body, much as every human heart sings the same in the presence of great poetry."

"'But will you come?' I insisted."

"'Our host is Master Ko-Gun. I would not like to disappoint him.' said Sa."

"'I shall invite him as well. He often comes to the Little Star. You will not mind escorting him home tomorrow, I hope?'"

"'If he will agree, then we are agreed too.' said Sa."

"'Then we are all agreed.' came the aged voice from the inner doorway. The Zu Mir brothers leapt to their feet and bowed deeply. I bowed as well. It was Master Ko-Gun."

The Prefect sneered. "Such a felicitous group of murderers and thugs you had in the province. So polite and kind to each other. If there is no honor among thieves, there at least was the appearance of it. The pretense of it."

The prisoner looked deeply injured. "Prefect. I am surprised at such a vicious remark. Perhaps I deserve it, but to say it so bluntly...have you not heard the ancient proverb that mercy for those in unfortunate circumstances ought to be extended even to the impious?"

"I am not here to give you mercy. I am here to obtain information." the Prefect said reproachfully, unashamed of the insult she had given him. "Go on."

The prisoner did so. "'Master Ko-Gun,' I said. 'I am your poor servant. How are you this day?'"

"'Older.' Master Ko-Gun replied. 'By the grace of heaven, I am older. I hope to maintain this condition for some time to come. Thank you for your kind invitation, Shi Jixie. I confess I always look forward to the excellent food your servants concoct. Can you tell me the menu tonight?'"

"'Duck, in a light plum sauce, served upon the finest fresh-cooked rice and with a new high valley wine for you to sample.' I replied."

"'Marvelous.' he said. 'I am glad you invited me, but is this the only reason you have come?' He seated himself on one of his wide green silk cushions, folded his legs and pressed his palms together in a meditative posture. Master Ko-Gun's face was wrinkled and aged, his eyes almost invisible in the deep folds of skin. In his youth he had spent a great deal of time in the sun, and this was visible, as his skin seemed leathery, his hands rough, despite not having done the brutal work that calloused them for decades. He dressed simply, in plain robes, like many of his age, he did not have any wish to impress any man with his wealth or taste. Instead, he wished only to modestly finish his life in seclusion. I think, although I do not know, that he continued to mourn his wife many years after her death and did not wish to adorn himself like a peacock when her spirit might be displeased with it."

"'I confess not, Master Ko-Gun.' I said. 'I was accosted at the shop by Lieutenant Ha...'"

"'That buffoon?' scoffed Zu Mir Ma. 'He is still trying to defeat us?'"

"Zu Mir Sa was more cautious. 'He is an expert swordsman. I heard that he is a veteran of over a dozen duels against vicious criminals.' he said sagely."

"Master Ko-Gun looked sternly at the two. 'Please, allow Shi Jixie to finish his story without interrupting with your gossip.' Their lips were profuse with apologies for a moment. Then Master Ko-Gun's eyes returned to me."

"I continued. 'He said that there was a beautiful young fugitive in the city and had I seen her? He said that she was carrying a golden blade. Do you know of this?'"

"'Are you considering taking up bounty hunting, Jixie?' teased Ma."

"'I simply wish to have all the facts. To be enlightened.' I replied."

"Master Ko-Gun closed his eyes. 'Yes, I am aware of this fugitive.' he said. 'She is a woman of approximately your age, and of great beauty. It is said she is connected to a noble family, who she has disgraced by her actions against the Emperor.'"

"'Shameful.' remarked Sa."

The Prefect's eyes bulged. "He said 'shameful'? Zu Mir Sa called Melodious Ivory 'shameful' for acting against the Emperor?"

The prisoner was outraged. "Prefect, I must insist, your incredulity is insulting. You have made your point - you do not believe that I am sincere when I say that we in the Yellow Sash Gang were largely respectful of the authority of the Emperor even if we did not always agree with specific edicts. I understand your view and I do not wish to constantly be arguing with it. Do you or do you not wish to hear this story?"

The Prefect was taken aback by the prisoner's anger, then glared at him harshly and said nothing.

"I shall proceed, then." said the prisoner. He waited a moment to see if she would say anything in response to that, but she did not. "Having learned of this fugitive, I instructed my guards and women that if she were to come into our hands, or if their contacts should learn of her whereabouts that I should be informed straightaway. I feared Lieutenant Ha might use her as an excuse to target my business interests and I felt I would be in a better position if I had more information. For is it not a proverb that a player who holds the stones in his hand has an advantage over the one who does not?"

"I returned to the Little Star to make it ready for the guests that night, and informed my employees of the attendance of Zu Mir brothers and Master Ko-Gun."

"'Oh!' squealed one young woman, whose hair was dyed in streaks as red as a sunset. 'Zu Mir Sa and Zu Mir Ma will hear our poetry?'

"'Yours specifically.' I told her. 'I wish for you to take their learned criticism to heart, their ear for felicitous poetry is far better than mine and perhaps even superior to your honored tutor.'"

"'I shall, I shall Master Shi. Thank you!' She knelt and kissed my feet once, a mischievious, childish gesture of affection which made me blush."

The Prefect interrupted. "Where was Melodious Ivory?"

"Prefect, you are so impatient! Almost as impatient as the girls were to see their favorite musicians again, the handsome Zu Mir brothers. But at that time, when I was retiring for an afternoon of work on the accounts, Melodious Ivory was running along the Crystal Brook, a small creek that fed the river on which our modest town sat. Her feet splashed in the cold clear water. Behind her, two men with pikes chased her, shouting to each other, go left, no, right, you stick to your side, we will encircle her, trap her against the cliff. Yet when she reached the cliff she ran straight up it, arm stretched out before her, her weight nothing to her strong legs, her powerful chi lifting her upwards and upwards towards the autumn afternoon sun..."


	3. The Stretched White Linen Cloth

III. The Stretched White Linen Cloth

"She vaulted over the top of the cliff and crouched in the bushes, like, she thought, a common bandit laying in wait. Then moved low to the ground like an animal."

The Prefect was looking at the prisoner curiously. He interrupted his story to explain: "You must understand that I was not present for this part of her journey. I only know what she reported to me. There were some details I was later able to confirm by the statement of reliable witnesses, but I am not trained in the arts of investigation, so if I were only to tell you what I was able to confirm, and not what I surmise or what she said, the story..."

"Confession." interrupted the Prefect.

"...call it what you like." the prisoner said as if the distinction was of no consequence, "It would be utterly incomprehensible, full of jumps and false starts, empty unknowns and bizarre motivations. Thus I tell you that she ran like a loping, low animal, through the bushes, soundless, hidden, although none can confirm that this was true. She hid in a barn until the sun was setting, when she decided she would steal into town for food. She had some silver with her, and had heard of the Little Star, intending to find shelter there, away from the eyes of the law. But Lieutenant Ha was a crafty foe, who was far more experienced at catching fugitives than Melodious Ivory was at being one. For all her training, for all her indomitable will, for all her unmatchable beauty, she still thought like a princess, not like a criminal. Ha had anticipated she might attempt to enter the town and had set archers on the walls and torches on spikes far out into the darkness, where they burned like sinister guttering candles in the dim night, swirling with insects. Melodious Ivory was quick and silent but just as she reached the eastern gate, her shadow crossed the road ahead of her, and the archers saw her. It only took one to bang the alarm gong and as she rushed onto the bricks of the village street, they raised their bows."

"The arrows were as thick as raindrops in a storm, arching down towards her, splintering at her feet, thudding into trees like fists. She tumbled left, drew Golden Blossom and in a wide one-handed whirl she knocked a half-dozen arrows from the air, another dozen falling short, or going over her ducked-down head. She skidded along the ground on her back, swinging her sword over her, knocking the arrows left, then right, then leapt backwards in a wide tumble to her feet, rushing for the gate. She heard booted footsteps echo in the streets, the shouts of guards telling the inhabitants to clear the way. She turned, and indecision cut into her suddenly, which way to go, which way would bring freedom and which would bring capture and disgrace? But that indecision almost proved her undoing - a young archer hauled the string back and fired an arrow that pierced clean through her robe and her shoulder and even straight through the skin of her back. She screamed, her voice so musical, so wild, one archer later told me, that he thought he had shot a bird in human form."

"Her wound stung. The arrows were covered with a resin of some kind. She did not know what it was."

"A knockout drug." the Prefect opined. "Clever indeed."

"You are familiar with the practice?" the prisoner said. "I was not at the time. Again, you see how formidable an opponent Lieutenant Ha was to her." The Prefect raised her eyebrows slightly. The prisoner continued. "She swayed on her feet. Her chi was unfocused, her mind clouded by the drug. She ran down a darkened alleyway, the lights of the village swaying, sputtering, then they seemed to darken as well, as the stars above her head extinguished themselves one by one, the full autumn moon waning and waning, with the rest of the world, to blackness."

"Purely by chance, at that very moment, my bodyguard Fa Cho Bu was passing along the Street of the Ninth Emperor and he saw her stagger from the alleyway and fall..."

"'Punch Dagger' Fa?" said the Prefect. "The butcher of Shenhua Province?"

"The stories of his exploits there are highly exaggerated, I assure you." said the prisoner defensively. "He didn't even carry a punch dagger."

"And he was there 'Purely by chance'?" said the Prefect, sneering slightly. "Do not patronize me."

The prisoner blushed as if caught. "...a clumsy phrase, and perhaps...inaccurate. Please permit my miserable self to correct the tale. Fa Cho Bu had asked for the evening off, and I had granted it to him, on the condition that he spend some of it outside, searching for information on the beautiful fugitive. You see, I felt it might be advantageous for me to have information to trade with Lieutenant Ha. Or, if Ha would not bargain with me, I could then sell it to an inferior officer with superior ambitions. After all, if I assisted a junior guardsman in catching a highly prized fugitive that had slipped through Lieutenant Ha's fingers, the guardsman would justly be rewarded for his diligence, Ha would be reprimanded, and I would obtain the gratitude and perhaps forbearance of the authorities. It was indeed a selfish errand upon which I had dispatched Fa Cho Bu."

"A selfish errand for a selfish master. Continue." said the Prefect with an expression of satisfied triumph.

The prisoner continued, head bowed low. "At the moment the arrow pierced her flesh, I was at the head of my low table, lifting a bowl of wine to the good health of the Emperor, the Governor, their ministers, and their honored families. With me were the esteemed visitors I have mentioned before, and several courtesans. I can remember the beauty of the scene. I felt almost as if I were the master of a great family. The lamps were yellow, trimmed neatly, characters inscribed on the paper meaning 'prosperity' and 'happiness'. The food was spread before us on plates inscribed with blue ink."

"After dinner we began the entertainment. First, dancing, then a brief play, and finally poetry. It was when Yu Yang was presenting her poetry to us, that I was interrupted. She stood above us with her hands hands clasped in her wide, draping sleeves, eyes high above us, reciting in her cool clear voice, 'When I am happy I walk alone in the hills.' That is all of her poem I remember. It was good. The Zu Mir brothers believed it needed work. They instructed her, and she accepted it in good spirits."

"To my guests, an interruption for me was not unusual. These interruptions had come throughout dinner – after all, the Little Star had other guests who required my attention. My guests were too kind to expect special treatment. My other guests had their own dinners, and their own wine, and opium, and women that had to be arranged, and as a gracious host I would have been remiss if I had not attended to them as well as to my own pleasurable company. But this time it was not another guest's arrival, or payment, or departure. This time it was Fa, who I was surprised to see, as you'll recall, it was his night off. I did not know my lackadaisically and – as you say – selfishly cast net had gathered a very desirable fish."

"Fa led me through the stone-floored hallways and past the paper screens and heavy curtains to the alleyway at the rear of the Little Star, where a cart filled with straw was covered with a tarp. He threw back the tarp and I saw Melodious Ivory for the first time. I must admit I was not impressed with her reputed beauty, although I did try to take into account her condition. The arrow was still in her, although Fa had sacrificed his own sash to bind up the wound to stop her bleeding. She was haggard, dirty, malnourished, her expensive clothes torn by thorns and her feet caked with mud. I could tell by her feet that she was a noble woman..."

"Her feet?" the Prefect said, but her tone was not disbelieving – this was the tone of a test, something she knew but wished to see if the prisoner knew.

"Yes, her feet. You see, someone who must labor for a living travels on foot, and develops callouses and scars from walking many miles either barefoot or with their feet wrapped only in cloth. But hers were, although dirty and scraped, smooth-skinned and well-formed." the prisoner said. "She had worn shoes that elevated her soles and shaped her feet all her life."

"A cogent observation," said the Prefect. "I can tell much from your feet as well."

The prisoner unconsciously pulled his feet back under his stool, then laughed at his own embarassment. "How coy I am, like a young girl being ogled by an admirer. I have nothing to hide. These callouses show my hard-working youth – although not work you approve of. You see these scars? The stones of alleyways where I was first offering courtesans were rough and sometimes sharp with broken, discarded ceramics."

The Prefect did not confirm or deny that this was what she had learned. Instead she said, "Continue your story."

"Confession." corrected the prisoner, with a smirk. The Prefect frowned deeply at the quip.

The prisoner continued, inclining his head slightly back, his dark eyes closing, as if memory transported him back to that moment. "Yet as I observed her, helpless in the back of the cart, with her limbs wrapped around a golden sword with an intricate hilt, I felt a stirring within me that I had not felt for many years, the combination of pitiable, possessive and protective feelings of affection that we sometimes feel for wounded animals. Empathy, you might call it, or compassion, though naturally my poor self felt these exalted virtues in an indistinct, unfamiliar, shadowy form, like persons whose reputations are known without ever being met." He opened his eyes, and said, "I insist, I still insist today, that whatever feelings I might have had for Melodious Ivory, they grew from a very small seed. This was no dramatic meeting of soul mates, the heavens did not shake and no bolt of lightning struck my heart. But as the proverb states, what you plant in the springtime, you shall harvest in the summer. Soon that seed would grow in my heart."

The Prefect said drily. "I do not doubt it. Rotten ground is very fertile."

The prisoner looked stung, truly wounded for the first time by the Prefect's occasional insults. "It is a tender wound, her departure," he said to the Prefect. "Self-inflicted or not, the wound is still tender. I beg your indulgence to let it close in its own time. Do not flay it open further."

The Prefect seemed surprised by this response, and intrigued. "...self-inflicted? Do you mean to say that she is gone because of something you did? I thought you said earlier that you left her. Do you now tell me you regret your decision?"

"Please." said the prisoner beseechingly. "In my own time."

The Prefect leaned back, silent and motionless. Finally she nodded.

The prisoner took a deep breath. "'Fa, fetch her in to the Green Room and summon Aki immediately.' I said. 'Do it discreetly and do not interrupt the recital.' I turned to the man whose cart it was. He looked rather frightened. There were times when I would be reassuring to those who feared the Yellow Sash, who believed the pernicious falsehoods spread by Lieutenant Ha. But this was not one of those times. I was ashamed to discover I required this man to be frightened of me."

"'Sir,' I said. 'Where are you going?'"

"'I was going home.' he said."

"'Have you any family?' I asked."

"'No,' he said."

"'Ideal.' I said. I took a purse of silver from my sleeve and handed it to him. 'I suggest a vacation. Far down the river. Take your cart with you. Speak to no one of this.'"

"'But I cannot repay...' he began, trying to ward off the money as if it were an evil spirit."

"'It is not a loan, it is a gift. In exchange for the use of your cart which my guard temporarily enjoyed.' I said. 'Unless, of course, I hear that you have not honored our arrangement. Then I may be forced to take steps to recover these moneys. But if you go far from this village, stay there for several months, and do not speak of this incident to anyone, this is a freely given gift and you shall have my blessing as an honored cousin.'"

"He gulped, grabbed the money, and ran off. He held to our agreement."

"As far as you know." said the Prefect.

"True." said the prisoner. "But it hardly matters now..." He trailed off suddenly, his stride thrown. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, the prisoner seeming slightly ashamed – or at least embarassed to have revealed his threats and bribery so nakedly, and the Prefect not wishing to explain her interruption further or draw any further attention to it.

Finally the Prefect spoke, prompting, cold-voiced. "She lay in the cart."

"Yes," the prisoner said. "I sent my man to find Aki, the local healer. Aki would assist me and keep matters quiet, as she had many times before. She believed her oath of healing required her to keep secrets of this kind quiet. A very ethical woman. I returned to my guests for a time, but my mind continued to stray to the young woman now under my roof. What would she tell me when she awoke? For what reason was she a fugitive? I resolved to ask Master Ko-Gun. I did not realize at the time what a dreadful mistake this was. As the evening drew to a close, I led Master Ko-Gun towards his room. I bade his consort to walk ten paces behind so that I might consult with him in private."

"'Master,' I stated. 'You were aware of this fugitive, this woman.'"

"'Melodious Ivory.' he said. Master Ko-Gun had drunk several bowls of wine, but the mention of that name made his voice cool and sober."

"'Why is she a fugitive? What is her crime?'"

"'She is from a noble family, but they disobeyed the order of the Emperor and High Magistrate Pak stripped them of their title. Rather than give up their power and wealth, she fought with the soldiers sent to arrest them. Fought and defeated them.' There was something in his tone that made me think there was more, so I stopped walking, and looked at him closely."

"'Although there were twenty soldiers, with orders to kill, she defeated them all without killing even one. They all lived.' Master Ko-Gun said in the tone of someone who knew it to be fact."

"'Astonishing.' I said. 'She would risk all to preserve her family?'"

"'She has disgraced her family.' Master Ko-Gun corrected, waggling a gnarled old finger at me. 'High Magistrate Pak is the right hand of the Emperor. His word is law.'"

"'Of course, of course, Master Ko-Gun, forgive my ignorance. I misspoke.' I said, bowing hurriedly."

"Early in his life he had his teeth filed to sharp points, better to bite his rivals with in street fights. As he had lost his teeth almost entirely by now, he had a false set made that was just as pointed. Only up close could you see it was ivory and not natural teeth, so artfully was it made. He leaned close then, and said, with a keen smile, 'If you find her, let me know. You and I could make a good deal of silver by selling her to the High Magistrate directly. It would save him a great deal of money in the long run, as well as prevent...political exposure.'"

"'A cunning proposition.' I said. I fear my nervousness showed through. 'If I hear anything, you will be the first to know.'"

"'No doubt. I have no question about your loyalty, Little Bargainer.' he replied, and it was impossible to tell whether he was telling me the truth or not. Thus, what began as a frivolous and pleasant evening ended on a note of uncertainty, fear planting another seed in my heart, later to bloom, and be harvested."

The prisoner paused, and leaned over to pick up his plain wooden bowl of water. A slow drink followed.

The Prefect said, "You never had any intention of telling Master Ko-Gun what you knew."

"I had not decided at the time." the prisoner said.

"You never told him anything." the Prefect stated flatly.

"No." the prisoner said.

"And now he's dead." the Prefect said.

"We all must die." the prisoner said philosophically. He turned away, the mist of an approaching tear visible in his eyes.

The Prefect stared at him, her eyes open, unflinching, searching his face for any sign of insincerity. If she found any, she made no remark about it.


End file.
